Wajir's first tarmac nears completion

There is excitement and hope filling the air in the dusty town of Wajir. Residents are joyful of the new tarmac road coming up along numerous stretches of roads within Wajir town.

SaadiaAbdishukri sells fresh farm produces like kale and water melons along the busy Isiolo-Wajir road. She expresses her excitement of the new road but quickly registers her complain of the dust caused by huge trucks and tractors working on the road.

"This project will improve our economy but currently there is too much dust. We have to carefully arrange and package our goods because the first thing that scares away our customers is the dust around," said Abdishukri.

Wajir county government has embarked on this flagship project more than a year ago after completing the design work and survey of the road. It consists of 28 kilometers of tarmac inter-connecting seven main streets within Wajir town.

"Our biggest flagship project which costs us at 1.2 billion is at the completion stage. We now have to focus on developing the sub-counties," Wajir governor Ahmed Abdullahi said yesterday while speaking to the media in Wajir town after a fund drive for Al-Flah Islamic Institution.

"Selifies" and attraction of the site

The first batch of the road which currently being surfaced with bitumen is the new craze in town. Tens of people walk towards that section of the road every morning and afternoon to see the progress being made.

17 year old Abdirizak Ahmed and his friend Abshir Abdullahi pose for a selfie on the new bitumen surface using their mobile phone.

"I will post this photo on my facebook. I am among the first people who posed for selifie here (on the new tarmac road)," Ahmed said.

Constructors at the site are however complaining of the difficult task of controlling people who want to see the test of the new road.

"Some people will hit the fresh bitumen with their bare hands or hit it with their legs. Others want to pose for photos and will criss-cross the road," lamented Dan Wahome, a worker at the site.